Chief minister Yogi Adityanath targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the proposed grand alliance being worked out in the state.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the proposed grand alliance being worked out in the state.

He said the Congress leaders appeared overenthusiastic to come close to the BSP and the Samajwadi Party as an uninvited guests and bonhomie, if any, among them would not be natural.

In an obvious indication towards Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lalu, Yogi said the CLP leader was trying to get close to the SP like an uninvited guest as the party refused to accept Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the proposed alliance.

“I am surprised that the Congress leader is trying to get close to the SP that is not ready to accept Rahul Gandhi as leader (of the grand alliance) saying the Congress president does not have qualities to become Prime Minister,” said the chief minister while speaking on the supplementary demands of grant of ₹34833.24 crore for 2018-2019 that the state assembly passed in the absence of the opposition parties on Wednesday.

Yogi said the consistent attempts to bring the allies together appeared more like a different ‘chipko’ movement of sorts. He did not spare the BSP and the SP too. “BSP says it maintains a distance with the SP… A snake will only give birth to a snake and never become a mongoose. It will not give up stinging either. A clever men will realise this and take necessary precaution. God save those who are in the habit of being betrayed again and again,” he said

Referring to Rae Bareli and Amethi, considered to be bastions of Nehru-Gandhi family, Yogi said the condition of these constituencies was known to all.

Yogi referred to the Poorvanchal Expressway project to target the SP and called the party’s regime corrupt. He said the SP government proposed to construct the expressway with a cost of ₹15200 crore. But the BJP government acquired most of the land for the project and was getting the expressway constructed for an amount lesser by about ₹3000 crore. “Who would have pocketed this ₹3000 crore. I want to know this from the SP,” said Yogi.

He said the SP government even tried to get some terror cases withdrawn. If the judiciary had not intervened the SP government would have withdrawn these cases, he said adding withdrawal of these cases would have amounted to treason.

Besides listing projects incorporated in the supplementary demands of grant and funds earmarked for them, Yogi said funds had been provided to build a memorial in former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth place, set up a centre of excellence at DAV College Kanpur, set up a satellite centre of KGMU at Balrampur and a medical university in Vajpayee’s name.